Tawanna’s Story

April 14th, 2014

“After my husband retired, we made the decision to care for four foster children. Our youngest foster daughter, Tawanna, was a ward of the state and had experienced neglect early on in her young life. Bringing our kids to the Y helps us a lot. It gives us a chance to get out and allows our children an opportunity to interact with children their own age and be around positive adult role-models.

We were able to enroll Tawanna in the Y Preschool program and she is now at a point where she feels comfortable with the staff at the YMCA. She splashes her swim instructors with confidence and has begun to thrive. Our family has also been able to be a part of the of the YMCA’s Summer Food Program during the months while the kids are out of school. This program is excellent because that is one less meal our family has to worry about for the day. The Y helps our family stay healthy both physically and mentally. My husband and I are both diabetic. We need to exercise and our kids look forward to coming to the Y for swimming and time with friends. We believe it is important to be a good role model with exercise. The Y has helped me, my daughter and my family. Our goal is to see our children grow up and we have to stay healthy to see that happen.”